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Golkar lawmaker Ferry Mursyidan Baldan has denied a growing split within the party spearheaded by members who want to see the back of controversial magnate and faction chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

Ferry, one of the initiators of the Clean Golkar Caucus, said “Golkar is still solid,” despite demands from party members on Thursday that Bakrie stand aside until he resolves allegations of tax evasion totalling Rp 2 trillion ($212 million) by three of his companies.

“The caucus has been created to remind the party that it should be clean, that its members do not get involved in corruption cases or other criminal cases,” Ferry said. “It is a forum for stimulating, rather than establishing, a new organization within Golkar.”

He claimed provincial branches of the party had received the caucus positively. “Support has also come from both senior and junior members of Golkar. All responses have so far been very positive,” Ferry said.

He denied comments attributed to legislator Zainal Bintang were an attempt to get Bakrie to step down. The comments, however, were far from ambiguous.

“The alleged tax violations involving the chairman have the potential to tarnish Golkar’s image,” Zainal, the founder of the caucus, told a local newspaper on Wednesday. “We have asked the chairman to temporarily step down, not because we hold any grudges against him, but because we care about the party’s image. We are very saddened to see a lot of Golkar members involved in corruption and criminal cases.”

PT Bumi Resources, the crown jewel of the Bakrie group, is being investigated by the Finance Ministry’s tax office regarding charges that the miner and two of its subsidiaries — PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) and PT Arutmin Indonesia — evaded taxes in 2007.

The Finance Ministry is headed by Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who clashed with Bakrie when he was the coordinating minister for people’s welfare in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s first cabinet.

Among other high-profile issues involving the Bakrie group was the ministry’s request for a travel ban on a number of businesspeople, including from Bakrie group, over unpaid state royalties. Also, Sri Mulyani reportedly threatening to resign amid sustained pressure from Bakrie to suspend trading of Bumi shares last year when they plummeted last year amid the economic crisis.

Another Bakrie company, PT Lapindo Brantas, is suspected of being solely responsible for the Sidoarjo mudflow disaster in East Java that has left tens of thousands of people homeless.

Analysts speculated before Bakrie’s election to party chairman that he needed the political power associated with the position for protection against the inevitable legal problems stemming from his business practices. However, Sri Mulyani, acknowledged as one of the few reform-minded professionals in Yudhoyono’s cabinet, has proved herself quite a stumbling block.

There is speculation that Bakrie has been doing everything in his power to target Sri Mulyani — who approved the bailout of Bank Century — including calling for her and Vice President Boediono to temporarily step down to “make smooth” the House of Representatives special committee inquiry.